Search Engine Optimisation (SEO):
A Guide to Getting Started!

What is SEO? Why do I need it?

The number of online sales is growing rapidly and as more and more people choose to buy their goods and services online the value of the search engine is ever increasing. Therefore it is essential for your website to appear in these web searches if you wish to succeed with your online business. You may have already established your site and brand or you may be right at the very beginning of your online venture, either way it is important for you to give your business a chance and implement a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) plan. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is just one way of increasing your rank in search engine search results and the number of companies offering these services is rising.

This guide has been designed to provide you with all the information you may need to begin your SEO career. Section One 'Professional SEO Services: To hire or not to hire?' outlines the most important things to look out for when hiring an SEO company and Section Two identifies and provides solutions to the most common SEO obstacles.

SECTION ONE

Professional SEO Services: To hire or not to hire?

Why should I hire an SEO Company? Can I not do it myself?

Making the decision to hire an SEO firm, such as Search Logic, is extremely important for the progression of your online marketing campaign. Search engines are constantly growing and evolving and monitoring them is a full time occupation. A huge benefit of hiring an SEO company is that they know and monitor the search engines carefully and are quickly aware of any changes that take place. When you hire an SEO company you are effectively buying a service that constantly tracks your businesses' online development. Your website will be submitted, supervised and re-adjusted accordingly; reports will be formed and then issued to you every month helping you to work out your ROI (return on investment).

Hiring a good SEO company means that you will have the time to concentrate on other aspects of your business as well as opening the gates to the other forms of internet marketing such as Pay per Click (PPC). It is essential here to remember that no two websites are ever the same and all offer a unique set of challenges, for example, a website with poor content may need the assistance of a copywriter or technical challenges may require a web development team. A competitive SEO company should be able to help you with all aspects of your online campaign. They will assist you in your understanding of the entire process whilst helping you get to where you want to be.

My SEO Company has guaranteed me results within one month. Is this possible?

Any SEO company that guarantees you concrete results should not be taken seriously and any promises about getting you to the number one slot in Google search results may never be met, no matter how long you run your campaign or how much money you throw at it. This is because in the SEO environment nothing is ever certain, the search engines are constantly evolving and changing and a campaign that is ranking high one week may be at the bottom of the pack the next. It is the job of the SEO company to monitor these changes and adjust your campaign as a result. Only the owners of the search engines have control over what changes are made thus SEO companies cannot accurately predict these alterations and guarantee you rankings. The same can be said for those SEO companies who promise you results within the first month. Any industry expert worth his salt will tell you that this is just not the case. SEO when it is done correctly takes time and in many cases results may not be seen until three to six months down the line.

When searching for an SEO company you need to take the time to do your homework and look at all the information you can get your hands on. Search around in the SEO forums and look for any articles written by the staff members of the company that you are interested in employing. These resources are free and are an excellent way for you to educate yourself whilst researching prospective SEO companies. During this time it may also be useful for you too ask some other questions such as How long as the company been around? Who are some of their other clients? At this point it may also be useful to have a look at any testimonials or case studies on display.

My SEO Company cannot provide me with any testimonials. Should I be worried?

Any respectable SEO company will have testimonials available for viewing by their prospective customers. These testimonials can be useful in a number of ways. Firstly they provide evidence of the quality of work produced and information on how the company rates for customer service. Secondly, they can be used to give you an idea as to the kind of other businesses the company align themselves with. This is important because companies who deal with a lot of pornography or gambling websites may have a reputation due to their clientele being associated with more risky behaviours. Another positive sign is if the company belongs to any online trade organisations, as displaying these affiliations openly probably means that they adhere to the rules outlined by them. As with any business the past can help to determine the future so if a company is not forthcoming with any testimonials or you cannot find any forum entries or article submissions by them or their employees you need to ask yourself why?

Is it normal for an SEO Company to keep secrets from me?

With the undertaking of any new business venture it is vital that you as the customer have some knowledge of what is going to happen and how it is going to be done. Any SEO company that does not want to disclose to you the techniques that it plans to use in order to get your website the high ranking positions is not worth bothering with. This is because some SEO companies use techniques that are forbidden by the search engines and could ultimately result in your website being banned. These techniques, which include cloaking, hidden text, doorway pages, and link farms, are usually associated with more black hat companies. Black hat companies are those companies who do not necessarily stick to the search engine rules and attempt to avoid the search engine police. However, if you do choose to employ an SEO company that uses undesirable methods you are likely to see results in the short term, but when they get caught, which they undoubtedly will, it could cause serious damage your brand and reputation. There are also some companies who bend the rules occasionally who are known within the industry as Gray hat.

The companies who choose to abide by the guidelines of the major search engines are commonly known as white hat. These companies will provide you with detailed plans and reports explaining what they intend to do and which techniques they will be using. The methods used by these firms are more basic 'tried and tested' techniques that may take more time to develop, but have the potential to keep your rankings high for longer. SEO companies who take pride in their legal and ethical guidelines will display these codes and any anti-spamming policies they have on their website.

Summary: So I should do my homework then?

When the time comes for you to decide which SEO company you would like to employ remember to devote your time wisely and follow the advice outlined within this section, cutting corners at this stage could result in you having to spend more money with another SEO company at a later date. At no stage should you be afraid to ask questions and if you do not understand something ask them to go through it with you, any legitimate SEO firm should have no problem in educating their clients to some level.

SECTION TWO

What are the most frequent SEO obstacles and how do I evade them?

There are many obstacles that can get in the way of SEO working effectively and a select few are discussed within this next section. The World Wide Web is brimming with websites that the search engines cannot index. One of the most common reasons for this is that the website has been poorly designed. It is important to note here that my use of the term poorly designed does not necessarily mean that the website is not good to look at, but that it has simply not been designed to be search engine friendly.

Obstacle One: Web Design

One of the biggest mistakes made by web designers and site owners alike is that they often tend to treat SEO as an afterthought rather than as a main component of the web design process. The problem with this is that there are many features of a websites design that can affect how well SEO will work once implemented. Even if you intend to do much of your online marketing through paid advertising allowing an SEO expert to review your proposed design may still throw up any flaws or potential issues. Design features such as flash and splash pages, under or over use of graphics and framed pages may look good but are not well liked by any of the major search engines and as a result can end up costing you thousands of pounds should they need to be changed.

Solution: Think SEO from the word go!

It is safe to say that if you are planning to use SEO in the future then it is essential that you bring in an SEO specialist during the design process and not at a later stage. By allowing both your web designer and SEO specialist to work on the site together in its primary stages you are ensuring that your site must meets the key criteria that will enable it to be both search engine and user friendly.

Obstacle Two: Keywords

Most of the design processes described in this section depend upon extensive research into the market within which the website will be situated. The analysis and research of keywords is crucial for any SEO project and if done properly should provide you with a template for which the architecture of your site should be based upon. If you have already established your website then you will need to look more closely at existing evidence and try to establish which pages are generating the most interest and what search terms people are using to find your site.

Solution: Like the back of your hand!

Keywords are the essence of SEO and need to be the centre of attention at all times. The future of your online business could depend on how effective your key words are as search queries and how often they are used. Keyword research can also help immensely with your websites usability and navigation proposals as well as giving you a template from which your content should be built. There are tools available that can help you carry out proper keyword research especially 'Wordtracker' which is considered to be the industry standard when it comes to professional keyword research.

Obstacle Three: Content

Alongside link building, content is arguably the most important aspects of a website. The use of descriptive, easy to understand content not only keeps the search engines happy, but if done properly can keep visitors to your site returning again and again.

Solution: Constantly Create and Update!

When search engine spiders index your website they automatically search your meta tags and website content for information. This information is then catalogued and stored until someone uses the browser using a particular term. If your content matched this term search, your site will be found and displayed to the user. This is where doing your research on your keywords comes into action as your website design and content should be primarily based upon the words your target audience types into search engine queries. It is vital that all content is displayed clearly and is easy to read by your audience because if the content is unclear or contradictory the customer may leave. New content should be added to your site constantly. If a web site spider returns to your pages and finds that you have added new content they are more likely to return again which could result in your site being ranked higher. Once a potential customer has actively searched for, located and entered your site and began to read your content and browse your products it is absolutely critical that they can both navigate and use your site effortlessly. This comes down to how usable your website is and will be addressed in the next sub-section.

Obstacle Four: Usability

One of the most critical points in online business is converting visitors to your site into customers. This process is known as the 'conversion process' whereby you are converting your website traffic into sales. Unfortunately at this stage a high page ranking will not compensate for the usability features of your website.

We have already addressed the issue of how important content is for a website but it is also important that the content is presented well and is simple to navigate round. For example, if the font you use is too small or fancy it may be hard to read or the use of overly long sentences may also factor in how long someone stays on your site. Poor readability could be a reason why potential customers leave your site quickly and never return.

Solution: Test, Test, Test!

The key thing when tackling your website usability issues is that you need to provide the information your visitors are looking for instantly. If they find that whatever it is they have specifically searched for presented to them clearly and concisely they are more likely to stay on your site. Ensuring that your site is easy to navigate by using side wide links and site maps means that a user will not have to hunt for any information or details and be able to access what they are looking more efficiently.

Another way to make your website more usable is to ensure that it loads quickly, it only takes a matter of seconds for a potential client to click back or to type in another address for related products. There are many reasons for your site taking too long to load but some key points to remember are that the use of free or inferior hosting, large graphics or junk html codes could all play a part.

All of these factors could be addressed if you take the time to test your sites usability. Organise focus groups or get friends and family to have a look around your site and report back any problems they may have found. It is simple issues like these that can make a difference as to how successful your online business actually is.

Obstacle Five: Graphics

A good website should essentially be made up of a mixture of text and graphics. Graphics on a website help to make it look more professional and aesthetically pleasing and if you were to come across a website that had very few or no graphics you would not be alone in thinking that the site was perhaps designed by an amateur. The text is important from an SEO point of view as this text will contain all the relevant keywords for that particular page, which is essentially what the search engines are looking for when completing their searches. A website with a good blend of both html graphics and text should perform well both for the search engines thus hopefully leading to conversions.

Unfortunately for web designers the major internet browsers display pages in different ways. This means that it is much easier for them to create graphic links rather than use cross-browser text links. This presents a problem for SEO because for search engines to be able to understand what a link is truly representing they need to find words in plain conventional text. Search engines have no idea if a graphic link relates to a specific web page or even if the link is relevant

Solution: Share the love!

Create an equal blend of both graphics and plain body text if a website must use graphics for navigation it is important to include a set of plain text links somewhere on the page, usually at the bottom.

Obstacle Six: Splash Pages

The first time you visit a site the first page you usually see is the sites home page, however, with some websites you are greeted with an entry page that instructs you to enter the site. These pages are normally decorated with fancy graphics or animations but have very limited readable text content. These pages are known as splash pages and they are not well liked by the search engines. Some reasons for this are that they often lack readable text content, that is, they do not display any text containing important keywords that the search engines can use to index the site. They very often only link to the sites home page which tells the search engine spider that it is only that single page that is of any use or relevance. And finally search engines are not keen on redirect links as they want to allow the user to find what they are searching for directly.

Solution: Avoid, Avoid, Avoid!

Splash pages are fine if you are not serious or indeed bothered about being indexed by search engines but if your business needs SEO to work in order for it to succeed you may find that your SEO specialist will advise you to avoid splash pages completely.

Obstacle Seven: Frames

A framed site is a site that is made up of numerous sections or frames. Each frame contains information that can be scrolled through separately. These type of sites are usually compiled of several html files that fit together to display a single page. This often causes some confusion for the search engines as they frequently only index the first html file within the frame. This is not good for your site because if a page is not indexed then it will not show up in search engine results.

Solution: Don't do it!

If search engines have a hard time indexing sites that are created in frames then it stands to reason that the solution to optimizing framed websites would be to not implement them into new website designs. If you already have them in your site then you may have to consider redesigning without frames. There is also evidence to suggest that frequent web users have become accustomed to framed sites and are actually actively avoiding them as they require scrolling content in separate frames which is considered to be an inconvenience.

Obstacle Eight: Link Building

Link building is perhaps the single most important factor you should be thinking about when trying to improve your online position. It can be an incredibly time consuming and difficult process but high quality relevant links can mean a lot in the online world. The reason for this is that search engines try to qualify the results displayed in the search results. To do this they track both the number and quality of incoming links to a particular website. If the search engine finds that your site has a large number of high quality links that compliment your site then it is more likely to give you a higher page rank.

There are services available that promise to link your website to numerous others for a set fee. This all sounds well and good until you find that the majority of the links provided have absolutely no relevance to your own business. These services are otherwise known as 'link farms' or 'bad neighbourhoods' and in reality they can be very harmful to your online business. Search engines consider these types of links to be spam and will give your site a low page rank, if they even bother to rank it at all.

Solution: Get to know Your Neighbourhoods!

Whilst it is a good idea to participate in link exchange programs, be sure to investigate any websites that could potentially become links to your site. Avoid 'link farms' or 'bad neighbourhoods' at all costs and keep an eye out for any websites that have been penalised in the past for reasons such as hidden text or gateway pages as these too are likely to be viewed as undesirable by the search engines.

And remember...

Successful SEO relies upon constant research and updates because what works today might not necessarily work tomorrow. Everyone involved needs to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their marketing campaigns and must be prepared to research and adapt. Here at Search Logic we understand that each of our customers is individual and we are able to advise you on other aspects of your site and other suitable techniques that may help you.